Mansion of Fear
by Steel Fairy
Summary: The Smashers recount their terrifying experiences with the world around them. Modern AU oneshot compilation. Current Story: What was supposed to be a fun sleepover turned into a night of fear for Mario and Sonic. On hiatus.
1. The Underpass - Zelda

**AN: So... this is something a little different. I know I'm not known for horror, but it's one of my favourite genres and I've wanted to write horror for quite some time now. Now, I'm not going to be delving into the supernatural much, if at all, I'm going to be focusing more on psychological horror. These are all set in a modern AU, and any anthropomorphic animals that may be featured (Sonic, etc.) will be presented as human. I hope you all enjoy.  
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 **08/26/18 Update: All stories will now be in the first person perspective.**

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 _~Mansion of Fear~  
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 _~The Underpass~_

My bus route on the way to work wasn't all that exciting. I'd get on the bus at the stop near my home, transfer to a different bus downtown and the journey would take me past the bustling shopping area with fast food restaurants who's neon lights would shine brightly at all hours of the night. The only eerie part about the trip was when the bus went through the underpass, and the only reason I considered that eerie was because when I was a kid I liked to pretend that scary monsters lived in the shadows just out of sight of the cars that zoomed by. As an adult I've come to realize that the only things hiding in the underpass were the occasional homeless people, and they'd moved on to a different location months ago.

I was working late one summer night and the bus I normally took had stopped running for the night, forcing me to walk several blocks to a bus stop that could take me home since I didn't have enough money to take a cab. The street I had to walk down had no sidewalk so I had no choice but to walk in the ditch, looking over my shoulder every few seconds to make sure that no cars were coming or if I were being followed. I had no reflective clothing, but my bare arms were pale enough that I could be clearly seen in car headlights. After a few minutes I began to relax. I could see the bright neon signs in the distance, and knew that once I was in that area I would be safe. However my footsteps slowed as I approached the underpass, and I eventually stopped right in front of it eyeing it uneasily.

Even though I knew it should be deserted, I couldn't shake the feeling of dread building in my stomach. There were no lights in the underpass and barely any cars had driven by to illuminate the tunnel. Despite it being the middle of summer, a cold chill blew through the night air. In less than eighty steps I would be through and to safety but my anxiety kept my feet glued to the ground. Biting my lip I looked around for any alternate solution even though I knew it was in vain. I was met with the sudden realization that I really missed her father who would always pick me up late at night and make sure I got home safely. How I wished that offer were on the table right now, but my parents weren't in Smashville; they were in Hyrule.

Swallowing my nervousness I began walking forward at a brisk pace, keeping my eyes focused on the bright street lights in front of me; my safe haven. I exhaled the breath I didn't know I was holding in as I made it to the sidewalk, the cheery lights illuminating my path while people milled about outside the restaurants, talking and laughing. I breathed a sigh of relief and began my trek towards the bus stop, occasionally checking over my shoulder to stare at the underpass. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

I eventually made my way to the bus stop and once safely on my commute home finally felt my anxiety beginning to fade. Still, I was only able to shake the uneasy feeling when I had arrived at my apartment and locked the door.

The next morning while I was getting ready for work I switched on my television for some background noise as I scurried around my apartment buttoning up my uniform and munching my slice of toast. Before I had a chance to change the channel from the news to something else, the headline caught my eye and I froze, my blood running cold and my heart plummeting to my stomach.

Apparently at around nine at night a woman had been murdered in the underpass. I felt vomit rise in my throat as I realized that the incident had occurred only fifteen minutes after I'd walked through. Hysterical, I called my boss and told him that I wouldn't be arriving at work today, making up some excuse about being under the weather when in reality I was terrified to go near the underpass again.

I quit that job shortly thereafter, fearing for my safety in case I needed to work another late shift. I was left to wonder if I would have fallen to the same fate as the woman if I hadn't left work when I did.


	2. The Sleepover - Mario and Sonic

_~The Sleepover~_

It was my sophomore year of high school when I was invited to a sleepover by my friend, Sonic. Now this wasn't unusual, I was invited to sleepovers fairly often but this was the first time I'd ever been to Sonic's house. It made sense, we'd only been friends for a few months at that point and I didn't blame Sonic for not wanting to invite me over until he knew he could trust me.

We took the bus Friday after school to Sonic's house where he told me that his father was out of town for the weekend and his adopted little brother was staying with a close friend of his meaning we had the place to ourselves. As a teenager I was excited at the prospect of staying up late playing video games and watching television, and Sonic mentioned that we could even order pizza if we wanted.

Keep in mind that I still didn't know where Sonic's house was. So when he pressed the stop button and we got out in what was known as the sketchy part of town, I clutched my backpack tighter and asked Sonic where we were going. Sonic pointed to an apartment building across the street and when he informed me that that's where we would be spending the night I immediately felt a bit guilty for assuming Sonic lived in a house. Though, I was curious as to why Sonic lived in an apartment when he'd mentioned his father was the head of a corporation. I asked him about it as we crossed the street and Sonic's face darkened. He explained quietly that his father never cared about him or his brother and things had only gotten worse after their mother had died. I let the topic fizzle after that, not wanting to ruin the night we had planned.

The apartment Sonic lived in was on the third floor of the run down building, and once we were safely inside Sonic locked the door behind them and clapped his hands together, smiling brightly. I couldn't help but notice the peeling wallpaper and patches of threadbare carpet. The apartment looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months but Sonic paid it no mind as he flung his backpack onto the couch and after a moment I hesitantly placed my own bag on the floor next to the couch. Sonic informed me that we'd be sleeping in the living room as his room was too small and pointed out the bathroom to me before he sunk down on the couch and grabbed a game controller, beckoning me over.

We spent the next several hours playing video games and ordered pizza for dinner. After we'd had our fill we ended up watching some rom-com on TV that we both had a good chuckle at before we decided to call it a night. Even though it was only ten we were both pretty tired from the school day before.

I wasn't sure how long we'd been asleep when I was woken by the sound of heavy footsteps wandering down the hallway outside. At first I assumed it was a neighbor and was about to close my eyes again when I realized the footsteps had stopped right outside the door that led into the apartment. A moment later, the doorknob began to move as the person on the other side tried to open the door.

Panicked, I shook Sonic awake and shushed him as soon as he'd opened his eyes. I pointed towards the jiggling doorknob and Sonic's face drained of all colour. He paused for a moment before he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the bathroom, opening the cabinet beneath the sink and whispering that we could hide in there. While reluctant I crawled inside and for the first time in my life was thankful that I didn't stand very tall. Sonic crawled in after me and shut the door at the same time we heard the front door open and the heavy footsteps enter the apartment. I placed my hands over my mouth to silence my panicked breaths as the footsteps moved through the apartment, getting closer and closer to the bathroom. I stole a glance at Sonic who had also covered his mouth, his eyes wide in horror. I suppressed the urge to scream as whoever was outside stepped into the bathroom and paused right outside our hiding spot.

I didn't dare breathe, move a muscle, anything that could give away where we were. My heart thumped at what felt like a million times per minute as I willed whoever was in the bathroom to not open the door. After all, we were only two teenagers and even though Sonic was incredibly fast on his feet he could easily be overpowered since he was as short as me.

After what felt like an eternity the footsteps exited the bathroom and made their way through the apartment before leaving altogether. Still, we waited in our hiding spot for a few more minutes just in case whoever it was came back. When we felt safe we bolted from the bathroom and Sonic slammed the front door shut, noting the broken lock before checking to see if anything had been stolen. Surprisingly nothing was gone and we came to the conclusion that whoever had broken in was looking for us specifically. Understandably we didn't get any sleep that night and when Sonic's little brother was dropped off by the mother of his friend we explained to her what had happened. After hearing our story she allowed Sonic to stay at her house until the lock got fixed.

Sonic never told his father about how the lock was broken and his father didn't seem to care that much either. Although it's a fun story to look back on now that we're both in college I still couldn't help but wonder what that person's intentions were and what they would have done to us if they'd found where we were hiding.


End file.
